A fan video has revealed the moment Red Bull almost inadvertently took Lewis Hamilton out of the Japanese Grand Prix before the race at Suzuka even started.
Having cut an optimistic figure at the start of the Japanese GP weekend, hailing a breakthrough with the Mercedes W15 car after qualifying seventh on the grid on Saturday, Hamilton was frustrated after slipping back to ninth in the race.
Lewis Hamilton trips over Red Bull equipment at Japanese GP
The seven-time World Champion was left snapping at a reporter during his post-race media session, having suffered his worst-ever start to an F1 season with just 10 points across the opening four races of the F1 2024 campaign.
And a video filmed by a fan from the main grandstand at Suzuka has revealed Hamilton’s afternoon did not get off to the best of starts, with the Mercedes driver tripping over a cable attached to Sergio Perez’s Red Bull RB20 on the starting grid while riding his scooter.
A scooter has long been Hamilton’s preferred choice of transport ahead of a race, with the 39-year-old often seen riding along the pit lane during those crucial minutes before the start of a grand prix.
Having rode through a gap in the pit wall, Hamilton did not appear to see the cable lying on the track and very nearly tumbled in front of a group of Red Bull mechanics guarding the rear of Perez’s car.
Hamilton rode out the stumble and continued his journey to the front of the grid ahead of the playing of the Japanese national anthem.
Hamilton – who announced in February that he will join Ferrari on a multi-year contract in 2024, ending his long and successful association with Mercedes – remains without an F1 victory since the penultimate round of the 2021 season in Saudi Arabia
That race came seven days before Hamilton, the first driver in history to surpass 100 race wins and pole positions, was dethroned by Max Verstappen in highly controversial circumstances at the infamous title decider in Abu Dhabi.
Verstappen and Red Bull have since emerged as the dominant force in F1, with the three-time World Champion winning 47 of the last 70 races since the start of his maiden title-winning campaign.
Speaking to GQ, Hamilton recently claimed he was “obviously robbed” at Abu Dhabi 2021 and described his defeat as “the defining moment of my life.”
He said: “Was I robbed? Obviously. You know the story.
“But I think what was really beautiful in that moment, which I take away from it, was my dad was with me. And we’d gone through this huge roller coaster of life together, ups and downs.
“And the day that it hurt the most, he was there, and the way he raised me was to always stand up, keep your head high.
“And I obviously went to congratulate Max, and not realising the impact that that would have, but also I was really conscious of there [being] a mini-me watching.
“This is the defining moment of my life. And I think it really was. I felt it. I didn’t know how it was going to be perceived.
“I hadn’t visualised it. But I was definitely conscious of: these next 50 metres that I walk is where I fall to the ground and die – or I rise up.”
Asked if he still fixates on that race, he added: ““If I see a clip of it, I still feel it, but I’m at peace with it.”
Leave a Comment